Page 51 of The Great Dating Fake Off
“No thanks,” I finally say.
She lifts a cluster of noodles without spinning the fork. Her eyes dance with mischief. “Your loss.”
I should put enough distance between us that the toes of our shoes aren’t touching, but I’m too curious what the hell she intends to do with that heap of food. “You’re not going to eat all that in one bite, are you?”
“What, this? Child’s play.” She tilts her head and slowly lowers the hanging mess into her mouth.
Somehow, she manages to fit it all.
“I don’t know whether to be impressed or horrified.”
Or turned on, not that I’d admit it out loud.
Her gaze flicks to mine as she chews and then swallows. “It’s a very useful skill at dinner parties, though I’m sure my face is a mess.”
Without a single thought in my head, I swipe the corner of her mouth with my thumb. Her soft, warm lip relaxes as I brush it in one single stroke.
I shouldn’t have touched her.
My blood is lava beneath my skin, cut with white-hot regret. Words rearrange themselves in my brain as I try to salvage the moment. I show her the pad of my thumb. “You’re good.”
Other than her batting lashes, she seems to be frozen in place as she stares at my hand.
A busboy muscles his way through the door, snapping me out of my trance.Nora takes a step back, blinking toward the ceiling.
“We’re with the caterers.” I turn toward the busboy. “Just on our way out.”
“Cool,” he says, visibly disinterested as he hangs a right to enter the dish pit.
“I’ll take care of this.” I remove the empty bowl from Nora’s hand. “You can head to the fire pit. Or wherever you want.”
She lifts her hand in a halfhearted wave, which I believe is sign language for way to make it weird. “I think I’ll just head to my room.”
I clutch the bowl harder. “Good.”
Her gaze rakes me up and down once. “Good night, Sebastian.”
It was.
For a while, anyway.
Chapter Fifteen
Nora
Rosalina peers over her shoulder from the passenger seat of Gia’s massive SUV. “I really thought there’d be at least one Uber in this town.”
“I’m not sure I’d trust it, even if there were,” Alessia says with a shrug. “Really, I prefer not to drink so I can drive us back later. I’m more of a drink-at-home kind of gal, anyway. So you three should have the most possible fun.”
Ro started having the “most possible fun” when she took three shots of tequila in a row before we even got in the car. Something tells me Gia will be right behind her as soon as we get inside and she’s done driving for the night.
The parking lot is nearly full as we pull into our destination. The GPS congratulates us on our arrival as Gia searches for a spot to park her beast.Located about thirty minutes away from the Foxfire Lodge, Eight Seconds Saloon is allegedly the place to be on a Wednesday night in the Adirondacks. I couldn’t be happier that this place seems like it’s hopping with people. I’ve been trapped in my own head all day and could use a little fun in the form of liquor and line dancing.
Because I cannot stop thinking about what happened with Sebastian in the kitchen last night.
Or what didn’t happen, because I don’t think he’s aware of what he’s doing. That his touch set me on fire, even though it was innocent to him.
But the way his thumb slid against my lip didn’t feel innocent to me. Nor did my impulse to lean into his touch. Maybe bite him.
